Letter: Why abortion rights are important to me

(AP Photo | Ted S. Warren) Protesters hold signs, Tuesday, July 10, 2018, as they listen to a speaker during a protest in Seattle against President Donald Trump and his choice of federal appeals Judge Brett Kavanaugh as his second nominee to the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh plunged into his confirmation battle Tuesday, meeting face-to-face with Senate leaders in what promises to be an intense debate over abortion rights, executive power and other legal issues that could reshape the court and roil the midterm elections.

Roe v. Wade is sacred to me because it validates and codifies through law the personhood that I will never take for granted as a survivor of childhood sex abuse.

Sovereignty over my body is something I was denied, and with it my humanity. Like a baby elephant tethered to a stake, I grew up not realizing my power. Shame and fear, much of it religiously induced, was the rope that kept me tethered. Sovereignty over my body was essential in the pursuit of sovereignty over my mind and heart. Individual sovereignty is a core founding principle of our nation.

As a Mormon, I believed abortion was murder. As my understanding of God changed, so did my belief. I am grateful to live in a country where I am not tethered to Christianity by law. I worry that my religious freedom and personal sovereignty are at risk as some Christians seek to impose their beliefs on me through the courts.

I implore my fellow Utahns to use their voices and their votes to support the religious liberty of every American, especially of those with whom they disagree.